Factor Structure of the Intercultural Sensitivity Scale

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the factor structure of Chen and Starost’s self-descriptive scale of intercultural sensitivity. The applied scale was based on the self-assessments of 24attitudes with a five-point Likert scale. A group examination was performed on 621 students in the final grades of primary school. Factor analysis isolated five factors that include students’ intercultural sensitivity: interaction enjoyment, interaction confidence, interaction attentiveness, respect of cultural differences, and interactive engagement. The scale is solidly represented by the main components thatexplain the variance with 49.18% of the examined phenomenon. The reliability coefficient of the scaleon our sample is acceptable and amounts to α=0.820. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin sample adequacy index had an index value of K=0.85, and the Bartlett sphericity test was statistically significant χ2=3684,968;df=276; p <.000. The analysis of results showed the need for further improvement of the scale, and the research certainly represents a modest standardization to the validation of the intercultural sensitivity scale, and we point out the applicability and usefulness of Chen and Starost intercultural sensitivity scale on different samples.

Keywords

• intercultural sensitivity
• students
• factor structure
• factor dimensions